About Calvin Klein

After Marty crash lands in the 1950s in the 1985 flick Back to the Future, girls call him “Calvin,” thanks to his purple designer briefs stamped with Calvin Klein’s signature waistband. One adoring girl breathes, “I’ve never seen purple underwear before.” Just three years before the movie, Calvin Klein underwear had premiered to a great uproar. Devotees stole ads from bus stations and demanded that stars like Marky Mark “drop trou” onstage to show off their Calvins. The designer gained notoriety for hypersuggestive commercials for everything from blue jeans to perfume, launching the careers of models like Brooke Shields and Kate Moss in the process. But what has kept his brand relevant for over 40 years is its classic, impeccably tailored clothing. Vogue writes, “Klein always understood that the modern shopper wanted easy, versatile, and interchangeable separates to wear anywhere.” He made clothes for strong, confident American women—women who didn’t have time to put together elaborate outfits every morning. “I’m not doing costumes,” he said. “I believe in classic clothes—not the faddishness that looks right this season and is dead the next.”